The Democratic National Committee agreed Wednesday to officially sanction four more Democratic presidential debates, and both Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton are on board.
The first debate will be held in New Hampshire on Thursday night, hosted by MSNBC and moderated by Chuck Todd and Rachel Maddow. It comes just days before that state's primary and will be the first time Clinton and Sanders have gone head-to-head, reported The Washington Post. The second will be held in Flint, Mich. on March 6, and two more will take place in April and May, with the dates and locations yet to be determined.
"The candidates have also agreed to participate in three newly scheduled DNC sanctioned debates to be held in addition to the February 11th PBS News Hour, and March 9th Univision debates already planned," DNC Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz said in a statement, according to USA Today. "The first of these new debates is confirmed to take place in Flint, Michigan, on March 6th."
Clinton pressed for the debate in Flint in order to keep the spotlight on the ongoing water contamination crisis, and Sanders requested that it be held before Michigan's primary on March 8, according to The Associated Press. The May debate will likely be held in California, while Sanders has insisted that a debate be held in his birthplace of Brooklyn, New York. Clinton's campaign is headquartered there and she represented the state as a senator, but has so far refused to agree to the location.
For months, the DNC refused to schedule more than six debates and said that any candidate who participated in an unsanctioned debate would be banned from taking part in future official events. Sanders and former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley vocally petitioned the committee for more debates and asked to Clinton use her political clout to help, but to no avail. The DNC wouldn't budge and Clinton believed that fewer debates meant she had a better chance of sustaining her then-commanding front-runner status. However, as her lead began to slip, especially in New Hampshire where Sanders now holds a 30-point lead, the former secretary of state asked the DNC for more debates.
"Our debates have set viewership records because of our candidates' ideas, energy and strength of their vision to build on the progress we've made over the last seven years," Schultz added. "We look forward to seeing them continuing to share Democrats' vision for the country."
